Digital Market Intelligence

When consumers shop, search, communicate, gather information and engage with companies or brands online, they behave differently depending on which device or screen they are using. And they expect a consistent experience regardless of the channel or device they are using.

GfK captures and analyzes connected consumers’ actual online behavior on smartphones, tablets and computers. We combine this with data from offline channels to assess which factors are most influential in triggering purchase decisions at every digital point of contact consumers have with your brands, products and services.

By evaluating the impact of online and offline advertising, brand interaction and engagement, the role of social media and people’s digital experience, we give you the power to influence the all-important path to purchase of your customers.

We help you design effective multi-device and channel communication strategies and optimize the online and mobile experiences that you deliver; so that you increase your competitive edge across all channels and devices.

Cross-device usage study optimizes campaign planning

Facebook asked us to explore how consumers use computing devices and how they switch between them for different tasks during the day.

Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.

Situation

Facebook wanted to explore how people use different devices for different tasks during the day and how they switch between them. This information could help its advertisers target customers with greater precision.

Approach

We combined a quantitative online survey with qualitative in-depth analysis to understand consumers’ behavior, attitudes and opinions about the devices they use to access online content and services. We used geographical location tracking to analyze which activities they were most likely to do while away from their homes.

Outcome

We discovered that almost half of the adults in the UK and the US sometimes begin an activity on one device and finish it on another. This suggests that marketers must reach their audiences across all platforms with a consistent brand experience. With single log-in sites like Facebook, they can avoid sending the same messages to prospective customers on their different devices.

The research highlighted the most important reasons for people switching from one device to another: comfort and convenience; urgency; the time it takes to complete a task; security and privacy; and the complexity of the information the user needs to input to complete the task. Actions associated with a purchase journey frequently trigger a consumer’s decision to switch devices.

Understanding tomorrow’s beauty products customer

Our insights help L’Oréal in Mexico to craft better marcomms strategies for the millennial generation.

The world leader in beauty products, L’Oréal is present in 130 countries on five continents.

Situation

A quarter of Mexico’s population was born between 1981 and 1995. Recognizing they are the consumers of the future, L’Oréal wanted to learn more about millennials’ attitudes, beliefs, aspirations and behavior in order to meet the expectations of these digital natives.

Approach

To immerse ourselves in millennials’ lives, we made heavy use of digital tools and technologies for our research. We interacted with 72 respondents on the client’s Facebook page, and asked 16 millennials to write blog posts about health and beauty topics. We also hosted six focus groups with eight participants, as well as eight immersions.

Finally, we did an extensive desktop review of research about millennials in Mexico and the rest of the world, which allowed us to compare their similarities and differences. We concluded the project by holding an engaging and interactive "happening", where we shared the results with the client’s teams.

Outcome

Our research left L’Oréal with deep insights on a customer base that is rapidly growing in size and importance.

Tangible deliverables from the project included practical and easy-to-digest videos about the millennial generation. These encompassed a 25-minute overview of the important concepts, as well as shorter clips on brand evolution in communication, fashion and beauty, music and memes*.

*[an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations.]

Tracking holidaymakers as they plan their next trip

GfK research helps a global travel group understand the purchasing behavior of holidaymakers and sharpen the effectiveness of its marketing and sales forecasting.

Our client is a leading global travel and leisure group that generates revenues of more than $10 billion (€8.6 billion) from over 20 million customers each year.

Situation

The Internet has fundamentally transformed holidaymakers’ decision-making and purchasing patterns. Awareness and consideration have lost predictive power, and even consumers don’t know how they will proceed to their booking. In order to plan strategically and market effectively, our client needed a thorough understanding of the research and buying process.

Approach

We showed that consumers are unreliable predictors of their own behavior, and that tracking of actual behavior was needed. We set up a Media Efficiency Panel to gather demographics, intentions and purchase actions, while our browser plug-in continuously tracked all online behavior for 15,000 households. This was complemented by an offline-behavior questionnaire.

Outcome

The research provided highly granular insight into consumers’ holiday purchase patterns. It analyzed how they research their trips, including the websites and search keywords used and the vital role of aggregators.

This allowed our client to influence the process effectively by enhancing its promotional tools and marketing at every step. It also made it easier to forecast future sales.

Maximizing digital advertising impact

26.09.2015

Sun-care brand Hawaiian Tropic sought to analyze the effectiveness of a digital advertising campaign for the Italian market.

Situation

Sun-care brand Hawaiian Tropic sought to analyze the effectiveness of a digital advertising campaign for the Italian market. In particular, it wanted to know whether the campaign was achieving a viral effect across social media, and was driving purchase intentions and recommendations.

Approach

First, we used our GfK Realtime Effects solution to measure the effectiveness of the digital advertising campaign; in particular, its impact on Hawaiian Tropic’s key performance indicators. We also conducted deep-dive analysis of relevant content across social media, using human coding (social data cleaned and categorized by skilled people) to understand the topics and sentiments of posts.

Outcome

Our findings showed that the campaign had a positive impact on future purchase intentions and recommendations. We identified the specific campaign elements that were driving social media posts and sharing, as well as the areas where the company could strengthen the communication of its brand attributes.Insights from social media analysis revealed the brand’s success in promoting viral activity. They also allowed us to make recommendations to encourage more sharing in future campaigns.

A 22-country GfK survey show that just under a quarter (23 percent) of online consumers agree1 that virtual interactions with people and places can be as good as being there in person. This compares to just 15 percent who disagree1.

GfK is releasing a portfolio of financial segments from its industry-leading Financial Research Survey (FRS). The segments are being made directly available to advertisers through Eyeota on its platform partners. This is the first time the global market research organization has shared its long-running market measurement study in this way, making it available for programmatic data activation and digital advertising.

Mobile internet access is increasingly becoming not just the first option, but also the preferred way for a large proportion of the online population across Asia Pacific to get connected. In fact, accessing the internet via the smartphone has become a daily activity for over 80 percent of some of the region‘s connected population. What are their media habits and what do they do on their smartphones? How are they engaging their favorit brands online?

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